When Ella Fitzgerald coyly asked us ‘What are you doing New Year’s Eve?’ she probably had something more glamorous in mind than what Dec. 31, 2021 has in store for most of us.
It’s another seasonal rite that isn’t going to be the one we thought we’d earned after almost two years of public health orders and world-leading vaccination coverage.
But a fifth and most virulent wave of a global pandemic isn’t something to be taken lightly, and those who didn’t already know will soon realize that the very best way to spend New Year’s Eve is cozy at home with a bottle of B.C. bubbly.
It’s too soon to definitively say whether the latest COVID variant is less of a threat to life than its evolutionary cousins, but there are some early signs that hospitalizations aren’t spiking proportionately with cases in other regions further along in the outbreak. And that gives reason for new hope.
Along with that, our kids are getting vaccinated in record numbers and boosters are rolling out, although not as fast as we’d like.
Some people seem content to wallow in doom but we choose optimism – not just as it relates to Omicron, but also in the bigger picture. Indeed, belief that tomorrow can and must be better than yesterday is the philosophy that overcomes our most daunting challenges and what moves society forward.
Other challenges await us in 2022, no doubt. Disappointments and setbacks are a part of life when you are committed to seeing progress.
This year, before the ball drops, we say go ahead: Get your hopes up.
And Happy New Year.
